Exodus — Chapter 15

Moses and the children of Israel sang this canticle to the Lord: \"I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously magnified: the horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea.\" Lapide notes that the Canticle of Moses (Ex. 15) is the oldest hymn of praise preserved in Scripture, and that the Church from ancient times (Lauds of the hours) has used it as a morning canticle. He cites Origen: the Canticle is sung on the far shore, after victory—we cannot properly praise God until we have passed through the sea of trial.

The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become salvation to me: he is my God and I will glorify him: the God of my father, and I will exalt him. Lapide explains that \"he has become salvation to me\" (factus est mihi in salutem) is the LXX reading cited by St. John (12:13) and applied to Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The canticle thus prophesies the Messianic salvation through wordplay on the divine name. He cites Origen (Hom. in Ex. VI): \"Moses sang this canticle at the sea; Christ sings it in His Church at every Eucharist.\"

Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength: thy right hand, O Lord, hath slain the enemy. Lapide notes that \"the right hand of God\" is a divine name: it signifies the power and omnipotence of God exercised in favor of His people. He draws the Christological application: the right hand of God is Christ (Ps. 109:1: \"Sit at my right hand\"), by whom God acts in creation, redemption, and final judgment. The Song of Moses is thus implicitly a hymn to Christ.

Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? who is like to thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders? Lapide calls this verse the greatest doxology of the Old Testament—the rhetorical question \"Who is like God?\" (quis similis tui?) becoming itself a divine name (hence the name Michael, \"Who is like God?\"). He cites Augustine (Conf. I, 1): the soul restless until it rests in God; and Chrysostom: no comparison to God is possible because God is in a wholly different order of being from every creature.

Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thy inheritance, the most firm place of thy habitation which thou hast made, O Lord; thy sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. Lapide identifies the mountain of inheritance as Mount Zion, where the Temple was built—and allegorically as heaven, where God's ultimate Tabernacle is the glorified humanity of Christ. He cites Revelation 21:22: \"I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb.\"

Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. Lapide notes that Miriam typifies the Church singing the praises of God after her eschatological victory. The timbrel, made of dried skin, signifies mortified flesh; dance signifies spiritual joy; the women leading praise signify holy souls consecrated to God. He cites Augustine (Serm. De Temp.) on the moral duty of joyful thanksgiving after divine benefits received.

At Marah the waters were bitter and the people murmured. Lapide teaches: Marah (bitterness) comes immediately after the rejoicing at the Red Sea to show that consolations are quickly followed by trials in the spiritual life—God alternates sweetness and bitterness to preserve humility and detachment. The wood that Moses cast into the bitter water to sweeten it (vers. 25) is universally interpreted as a figure of the Cross of Christ, which alone sweetens the bitterness of tribulation. So Tertullian, Origen, Ambrose, and Gregory.

I will put none of the diseases upon thee, that I put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord thy healer. God reveals Himself as Raphael, the divine Physician (Deus medicus). Lapide traces this divine name through the tradition: Christ is the supreme Physician of souls and bodies (Mt. 8:16-17); the Church's sacraments are His medicine; the priest is His instrument. He cites Origen (Hom. in Lev. V): \"God is the physician; the Law is the remedy; the priest is the apothecary who dispenses it.\"